In light of attempts to trace the philosophical and historical foundations of educational administration as an academic field of study that is concerned with the management and operation of educational organisations, this book aims at reviewing important epistemological developments in this field since the early 1960s. Specifically, the author poses several questions, such as what counts as the field of educational administration and what is this field in each decade since the early 1960s? What is the knowledge base of educational administration? What is its unique identity? And what are the types of publications and the methodological tools used throughout the years by the field¿s members? Based on a qualitative content analysis of the field¿s various academic journals since the appearance of the first journal, the author identifies six legacies ¿ empirical, practical, evaluative, training, ideological and critical that the field leaves behind in our time.

Izhar Oplatka is an associate professor of educational administration and leadership in the School of Education, Tel Aviv University (Israel). His current areas of interest are the foundations of educational administration as a field of study, the career of teachers and principals, gender and educational administration, and school marketing.

Contents: The academic discipline ¿ Epistemology ¿ Disciplinary boundaries ¿ Management sciences ¿ Education studies ¿ Intellectual identity ¿ Theory versus practice ¿ Educational administration ¿ Educational leadership.